A former Sacramento Kings worker is suing the staff, alleging a entrance workplace colleague sexually harassed her on a summer season highway journey and fired her months after reporting the incident.
A former Sacramento Kings supervisor is suing the staff, alleging she was fired after reporting sexual harassment by a colleague throughout a highway journey to Las Vegas in August 2021.
Sidney Haydel, who started working for the staff in July 2021 as director of operations for the Stockton Kings and participant growth coordinator for the Sacramento staff, filed a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Courtroom alleging wrongful termination, sexual harassment, retaliation by complainants and different claims.
Haydel’s lawsuit claims that whereas touring on August 5, 2021, throughout a summer season event, a colleague, Akachi Okugo, then an assistant coach for the Stockton staff, “strongly inspired” her to affix the staff and workers in a desktop. social gathering.
“Okugo made quite a few unwelcome advances towards Plaintiff and pressed his physique towards hers whereas asking her if she had a boyfriend,” the swimsuit says. “Stockton Kings head coach Bobby Jackson and assistant coach Jimmy Alapag witnessed Okugo’s harassment of the plaintiff however did nothing to deal with it or attempt to cease it.
“To the plaintiffs’ horror, Okugo put his fingers in Haydel’s mouth.”
The lawsuit, which was first reported by the Sacramento Enterprise Journal, says Haydel reported the incident to Stockton Kings basic supervisor Paul Johnson, who advised him Okugo “had a popularity for such a conduct.”
Okugo will not be named as a defendant within the lawsuit.
The lawsuit additionally says Kings worker Lindsay Harding, the one different lady current, reported the incident to Jackson.
The Kings’ labor and employment legal professional, Terry Wills, launched a press release saying the staff had not but acquired the lawsuit, however was conscious of it and denied the allegations.
“The allegations of wrongdoing are false and will likely be addressed by way of the suitable authorized course of,” the assertion learn.
Okugo’s cellular phone voicemail was full on Friday and never accepting messages, and he didn’t reply to a textual content message.
Haydel left Las Vegas early due to the incident, and was later advised by Johnson to “be nicer,” the swimsuit says. Haydel was then contacted by Stacy Wegzyn, the Kings’ vp of human sources, who stated that she “didn’t wish to escalate Plaintiffs’ criticism and indicated that escalation was not needed,” the swimsuit says.
“Plaintiff requested Wegzyn to implement sexual harassment coaching, of which there was none, to guard the three feminine workers members, together with the plaintiff,” the swimsuit says. “Wegzyn’s response was that she was ‘engaged on it’.”
Haydel stored making an attempt to get the staff’s human sources division to work on sexual harassment coaching, however “met resistance,” the swimsuit says.
In October 2021, somebody broke into her automotive on the staff’s coaching facility and ransacked it, the lawsuit says, and Haydel finally advised Wegzyn she did not really feel protected in her work surroundings and was given permission to work off responsibility. remotely.
The swimsuit says that in December 2021 Johnson advised Haydel that Okugo had resigned, although she believes the Kings fired him.
After that, the staff pressured Haydel to journey with the staff and he or she started receiving “unwelcome consideration, together with jealous and intimidating feedback, from a member of the staff, which she tried to disregard,” the swimsuit says.
“In March 2022, the plaintiff knowledgeable Johnson of the continuing drawback with the participant, who instructed her to contact Human Sources,” the lawsuit says. “The plaintiff knowledgeable Wegzyn that the participant’s difficulty wanted to be resolved earlier than the subsequent 12-day out-of-state journey.
“Wegzyn’s response was that he would have Johnson ‘discuss’ to the participant. Plaintiffs’ emotional misery elevated and so they grew to become enormously alarmed when Johnson knowledgeable them that he had revealed his id to the participant because the one who complained about him.”
On April 5, Haydel met with Jackson, who apologized for “not having her again,” the swimsuit says. However the coach added that he had by no means been advised why Haydel was not bodily current at work and that he assumed she “was skipping work,” the swimsuit says.
Per week later, on April 11, Wegzyn and staff basic supervisor Monte McNair met together with her and advised her she was being fired, the swimsuit says.
This story was initially revealed July 22, 2022 4:21 p.m.
Sam Stanton has labored for The Bee since 1991 and has coated a wide range of matters, together with politics, legal justice and breaking information.